Family Game Night - Do you do one or not?

[Once]

Just throwing this out there. I am curious and thinking of starting a regular one but have a few hitches to work through.

 

 

If yes, how do you do it? I know this sounds dumb but read on.:confused:

 

What do you do with children that have large differences in ages, bedtimes, interests, etc?

 

What do you do with your *intense* personalities? Intensely competative or sensitive?

 

Would you do it alone without DH if he was not interested?

 

If you only have time for one game, how would you decide?

 

Do you play educational games or just fun ones?

 

What if your kids liked logic games and they were in grammar stage?

 

 

I'm all ears ladies. Let 'er rip! :bigear:

[Whisperlily]

We do game night somewhat regularly. I have a range of ages/abilities.

 

When DH is home, we play a game or maybe two, and then we're done. The kids like to play with DH, but we also love to have game nights when he's away, because we can play game, after game, after game....

 

We get out the popcorn, maybe order pizza. The little ones sit on my lap and "help" me move my pieces, or are on "my team" when we play games too complex for them to understand.

 

The youngest goes to bed when she gets sleepy, the others usually stay up late if it's game night.

 

We also plan to have a fun movie (in the same room) for the younger ones when we know we're going to play a game that is too far over their abilities.

 

Some "game days" the kids instigate themselves, and they will play together during their free time without DH or I.

 

Currently (as in, the last few game days) my 9 year old is teaching the 5 year old how to play chess. ;)

 

Sometimes we schedule it, sometimes it's impromptu.

 

We DO tend to have a LOT more game nights when DH is deployed or away for training. ;) He likes to play board games, but his patience and attention span is limited.

 

How's that for an answer... :willy_nilly:

[Once]

This is good Whisperlily. I do like that rolling face. Makes me really smile.

 

We do the same things. Informally and prearranged. Together and separate. Except we do not order the pizza and eat popcorn.

 

Dh and I notice that arguing is very common. They do not argue as much at other times....even when they have started a game on their own. But if I am there it is all out war sometimes. They fight about what game we will play ...who gets what colored game piece......who sits where....etc. I think family games are a great forum for learning these skills but I'd like it to be peaceful *sometimes*. I'm thinking I am missing some key piece of knowledge (aside from the one that says kids will be kids):glare:

 

I know when my kids play games by themselves that my oldest daughter "takes over". I am not that personality so my approach is very democratic. I wonder if a more formal approach would work for this or just make it another chore to do.

[Vida Winter]

The plan was to have a snack-type supper followed by playing some Wii games, then some board games and ending up with a family movie.

 

We got through the supper, and I quickly cleaned up and started the dishwasher while the Wii games started. Then we had a power outage!

We had a nice fire going and we lit candles. It was too dark to play games or read, so we listened to oldies on the radio and talked.

 

Now, for the next family night the children want - a power outage. LOL.

[Whisperlily]

Do you see it in other areas, or just game time?

 

Any time *real* arguing starts (as opposed to ruffled feathers that can be smoothed) games stop. This is ongoing instruction here, not just board games. If they're playing with a specific toy and it's causing some sort of disagreement, they get one warning to solve the problem peacefully or it is put away. If they've got an imaginary game that isn't going well, they can fix it, or the game stops, and they'll have to find something to do by themselves.

 

Sometimes they need to be taught *how* to solve problems, and often they'll come get me to help them fix whatever is happening. As long as they come to me together to act as mediator, and not in a "tattling" manner, I'll help them work things out.

 

I don't know that I would designate board game time as the primary time to talk about good sportsmanship, or to deal with competition issues... but it certainly isn't inappropriate to talk about these things when you *are* playing board games... as an extention of what they already are being taught.

 

 

ETA: Play up the positives while you're gaming! Cheer on the winner, even if you're losing! If you're way behind, mention it... laugh about yourself being behind. If you lose, give yourself a big *fake* whine... then laugh and wholeheartedly congratulate the winner. Make it a point to cheer for the underdog, in a way that isn't embarrassing, but commiseration... but lighthearted. Instead of saying "I'm going to win." say... "I know you're going to beat me, but I'm going to give you a run for your money."

[Once]

The kids fight at other times too but it is worse during game time. What confuses me is that they can play a game peacefully without me *during the day*. I have been laying down the law about the quibbling and that has minimized it recently. But it still rears it's ugly head during games *at night*.

 

I'm starting to think a game night would not be a good idea now. Maybe we should do game days after school time. But then the baby is up and playing with all the pieces and taking stuff and gennerally being strong a strong headed two year old. Sorry for the rambling....

 

I noticed the other thread from this morning so I'm ging to go look at that one too. As usual, I am 12 hours behind all the other smarter moms!:001_huh:

[Mrs Mungo]

Friday nights alternate between game and movie night. Hubby isn't much of one for games but he will play on family night. Sometimes he'll even run game night and I'll take a bath. We try to keep it light and divert attention from potential disasters or disappointments.

[Sue G in PA]

my dc all gather in the living room to watch my dh play Mario Baseball on GameCube :glare: He's entertaining the children, he says. He's spending time with them he says. :glare::glare:

 

We have tried a real game night before. Too hard with such different ages. What we used to do was have each child choose a game and we'd play it once. Then there were tears b/c so-and-so's game wasn't first or so-and-so lost...again. Or, the little ones would quit half-way through. Then there is ds6 (my Aspie) who loves the IDEA of board games but can't handle them once we start. So we get started and when the game takes a turn he doesn't like...meltdown city. Dh still plays w/ him, but I gave up. Too stressful. I could play games w/ dd11 all day long. She loves them. Ds8 likes certain games and we could easily play those certain games all day (Pirates of the Caribbean Life, Boggle, Blokus, Uno, Mancala, etc.). Ds9...not so into board games. Give it a try though...it might get easier as the weeks go by. Children have to learn how to win AND lose at some point, right? :001_huh:

[Amy in Orlando]

Nope. We have never had much luck with any kind of "family" night. We play lots of board games here, but it just depends who is around and up for playing. When my older boys were little, we tried a game night thing and it was horrible - they were just too young - meltdowns all around, dh getting frustrated ... gahhhh.

[Jean in Newcastle]

We have a FAMILY game night (ie. with Dh too) only on Halloween night (it is our alternative to the holiday).

 

I have impromptu game nights with the kids when Dh has an evening meeting and we need something special to do with our time.

[Once]

This is all very helpful. Thank-you. I looked on the other thread for some info and suggestions. They were helpful too.

 

I have to go for now but I am putting this out for anyone to reply. I will be back tommorrow!!

 

Would you or do you play logic games with your younger kids (8 and 5yos?

 

Assuming that they like them and that it is not pressured. I think I know where I stand on this, if the kids like 'em why not. But I am curious if others have choosen differently. What are your thought and is there some reason to not do it yet. I would not consider myself strong on the Classical side but I see it has worth for an overall pattern to child intellectual development. Where do games fit into all this? Do you? Do you not?

[Milseain]

We have family game night on every Wednesday. What we do is we go from oldest to youngest. (so it would be me, dh, ds, ds then dd) On your day you get to pick the game or games. (card games, board games and the X-Box 360) We have a lot of card & board games. It is ether free night or we order pizza. We play from 5pm to 9pm. The only rule we have is it has to be a game 4 people can play (dd and I team up) or a game 5 people can play. If the little ones can't play by themselves, we play teams. (we don't have to do this as much now) Because we do it this way my kids don't fight on game night. (but this is the only time they don't) :banghead: Now if I can only get them to stop fighting the rest of the time. :lol:

[terrylee]

OH yes we do game nights! There are six of us, my husband and I and four of our kids (oldest is married). Anyway the ages range from 17 to 5 years old. But let me tell you, our five year old holds his own, LOL. We play games about three-four nights a week. Usually anywhere between 1-2 hours depending on what time we get started. All of our kids look forward to it and sometimes we have two games going at the same time. Two of our favorite games are Sorry! and Trouble. Unfortunately, only four people can play. So the two others will play checkers or a card game or battleship, something for two people. We always make sure that myself or DH are playing in the game for two. This way both parents are part of each game. It makes it easier if "disagreements" arise. Surprisingly, one of the all time favorites is "Old Maid" we have laughed so hard playing that game. We all look forward to playing games and once it's warmer we will play outside games like badminton, and croquet.

 

Terrylee

[angela in ohio]

What do you do with children that have large differences in ages, bedtimes, interests, etc? We adjust the game so that we can all play together - they play in teams, we help them, they have easier rules, etc.

 

What do you do with your *intense* personalities? Intensely competative or sensitive? We help them learn to get over it, and if they don't it becomes a discipline issue and that effectively ends it.

 

Would you do it alone without DH if he was not interested? Yes.

 

If you only have time for one game, how would you decide? We take turns deciding.

 

Do you play educational games or just fun ones? We only have games that are somewhat educational.

 

What if your kids liked logic games and they were in grammar stage? I don't subscribe to Sayer's version of the trivium, so I don't think about it that way. :D

[Mrs. Readsalot]

We have gone through game cycles.

They like Trouble, Monopoly Jr. and Stock Market Tycoon (played this a lot this winter)

They won't play logical or spelling related games...so if any families want to adopt me I love logic games!!!

[Mama Lynx]

We have game nights a couple of nights a week.

 

Like others have said, our little ones play in teams with us, or they play on their own. As a family, we play Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Puerto Rico, Carcasonne, Clue ... our kids don't like card games much yet. When we visit DH's family, we always play games in the evening - hearts, dominos or Phase 10.

 

The only problem is that my oldest is very much into war games that are complex and take 3+ hours to play. Most of the rest of us do not care to play those (although I did very much enjoy Kingmaker).

 

We usually choose by votes and consensus, but I like the idea others have thrown out about taking turns.

 

We have not started any word games yet, but I plan to buy Bethump'd With Words and see how that goes - oh, and Blockus. The kids play chess amongst themselves.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Re. logic games.

 

I've made a point to play (or at least get out and leave temptingly on the table) "Rush Hour" - it's really for one person.

 

I also make a point to get out "MasterMind" - with my dd6 I make it really simple (just two colors). With ds10, we could play a regular game.

 

I consider this part of math and so I will actually write down in my school schedule for some weeks "get out logic game/ math game" so that I will remember to do it.

[Mrs. H.]

If we do game night, it's usually on a Friday, so it doesn't matter if we all stay up late. If there is whining because of tiredness, that child goes to bed, immediately.

 

Dh will often play :eek: poker :eek: with our two oldest on weeknights, using poker chips and teaching them about probability, reading faces, etc. They are getting really good, and they beat me quite often.

 

We sometimes play Rummikub or chess, but it's always sort of a pick-up game, not really anything formal.

 

When my mother comes over, there is always Game Night. She loves Scrabble, Rummikub, and dominoes, so those always get brought out.

 

We don't have too much trouble with tempers around here when it comes to games, but they know that would cause an immediate shut-down with me. Ds (7) does run his mouth a little, but we're working on that. Everyone has fun, congratulates the winner, and cheers on or offers suggestions to the loser, and we don't allow any trash talk or bad sportsmanship when either winning or losing.

[Harriet Vane]

It is very common for us to play games some nights, or Sunday afternoons. It is sparked by either dh or the kids, and we play whatever is in vogue at the time.

 

While on vacation we taught the kids to play Hearts (cards) and played most nights. It was lots of fun.

[Adrianne]

What do you do with children that have large differences in ages, bedtimes, interests, etc? - We take turns on who gets to choose the games. The rule is, everyone needs to be able to play the game or for preschoolers, they get to be on someone's team. Parents have final approval of all games.

 

What do you do with your *intense* personalities? Intensely competative or sensitive? Behavioral ground rules i.e. this is how we act during games, crying, yelling, shouting, et cetera means you get a time out. It also helps if someone, like mom or dad have the final say. This usually means less arguments.

 

Would you do it alone without DH if he was not interested? For us the purpose of game night is family time - this includes hubby.

 

If you only have time for one game, how would you decide? We take turns in order of age including parents.

 

Do you play educational games or just fun ones? That is up to the game chooser. Parents have final approval of all games.

 

What if your kids liked logic games and they were in grammar stage? I do not think it matters as long as they can/want to play it. If it does not work out choose a different game.

 

I say go for game night. Start with a few ground rules and then make more up or change them as you go as needed.

[Jenny in Atl]

For a while we had something more than a family game night, we had game night with friends. First one was with a few families and we could mix the kids with each other according to skill and age. Then we did something a little bigger with a group of homeschoolers. We offered a chess once a week and general games a couple times a month. The kids loved it. Again, this fell apart for lack of a good space to meet. I hope to get them back into this again next fall. It was a great way to see friends and play many of the games we love.